Before kids everywhere stole the word, Yolo was the homespun Mexican restaurant in Skokie.

Before kids everywhere hijacked the word, Yolo was known around these parts as the off-the-main-drag Mexican eatery in Skokie. It's an outlier for Mexican restaurants — more cozy than festive, homespun over frilly touches, quiet over loud, where instead of ponchos and margarita glasses you'll find Aztec ornamental statues keeping a watchful eye of the 10-table dining room.

On the table, dishes arrive unadorned, typically a one-two-three of cumin-dusted rice, refried beans and a protein under a slather of sauce. Since saucing can be a laborious but rewarding art form for the kitchen, we wanted to see how the moles on their menu fared.

The mole de tamarindo is how a chef with culinary training would replicate the McRib. The pork rib slab comes boneless and fork-tender, entombed beneath a darkly sweet tamarind sauce that might score points on the competitive barbecue circuit.

There's also the mole verde, an earthy and green-tasting puree over bone-in chicken breast — it could be twice as delicious if chicken thighs were used instead. Hip and flashy wouldn't be words to describe the cooking, rather, it's a restaurant leaning on the strength of its recipes to stay in business for five years. We can get behind that.